Sorry for suggesting you buy across the river. It won't happen again.
No one hit the jackpot in Saturday's Powerball drawing, but four tickets sold in New Jersey are worth big money, lottery officials said. The third prize-winning tickets, each worth $50,000, had four matching numbers and the Powerball.
We'd say "if only" -- but four out of five (plus the Powerball) ain't bad, right? It's a 1 in 913, 129 shot -- and New Jersey managed four of those, state lottery officials said Monday.
Here's where they were sold:
- Bergen County: 7-Eleven #34554, 35 Madison Ave., Cresskill;
- Bergen County: Montvale Snack Shop, 108 Spring Valley Rd., Montvale;
- Essex County: El Caballo Blanco #2, 690 Mount Prospect Ave., Newark; and,
- Union County: Archie’s Corner, 562 Elizabeth Ave., Elizabeth.
If you're one of those people who believe lightning strikes twice in the same place, Bergen County looks like your best shot in New Jersey for Monday night's drawing. And if you're one of those who believe in the underdog, maybe try South Jersey? Either way, an absolute windfall is on the table for someone.
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Monday night's Powerball drawing will be the 38th in this run. The jackpot has climbed to $1 billion for the second time in the game's history, and even though the lump sum cash option would be less than half of that, thanks to taxes, we're pretty sure there's no one in the United States who wouldn't be thrilled to take that win. Hey, we'd take a double-up.
Monday night's jackpot is at least the fifth-largest lotto jackpot ever, Powerball, Mega Millions or otherwise, and could eclipse the one in front of it if enough people buy tickets. Powerball winning numbers draws are every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET and the cutoff for purchasing tickets is 59 minutes before go time.
Two weeks ago, three lucky people in New York won $50,000 Powerball prizes. The jackpot climbed to a (relatively) paltry $610 million after that one -- and could be double it if no one hits it Monday night.
Odds rise considerably the higher the prize. The second-place Powerball prize is $1 million and you've got to hit all five white balls to snare that one. The odds of that are 1 in 11,688,054, while the odds of hitting the jackpot, matching all five white balls plus the Powerball, are 1 in 292,201,338. Here are a few numbers strategies for those vying Monday.
